Ombudsman clears Binay of 3 charges

The Office of the Ombudsman has withdrawn three criminal charges filed in 1994 in the Sandiganbayan against former Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman and now Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay.

Ombudsman Aniano Desierto approved the recommendation of Special Prosecutor Leonardo Tamayo and Deputy Special Prosecutor Robert Kallos for the dismissal of the three graft charges docketed as criminal cases 21001, 21005 and 21007.

Last Oct. 9, the anti-graft court’s fifth division chaired by Associate Justice Minita Nazario granted Binay’s request for a reinvestigation of his three cases.

Tamayo and Kallos said that their re-investigation showed no "substantial evidence" to continue with the prosecution of Binay.

Binay was accused in Criminal Case 21001 of violating Article 220 of the Revised Penal Code for allegedly disbursing without authority from proper offices the amount of P107,493,158.78 consisting of unremitted collections in the General Fund and cash from the trust fund of the Makati City government.

The complaint sheet of Criminal Case 21001 stated that the funds were misused to implement the real property tax administration system installation project of Makati.

Binay was also charged with violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act, docketed as Criminal Case 21005 for allegedly giving unwar-ranted benefits to a municipal official by allowing the latter to be reimbursed for food expenses in one occasion amounting to P3.1 million.

On the other hand, Binay was accused in Criminal Case 21007 of violating the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act for allegedly purchasing groceries worth P9.9 million for distribution to municipal employees of Makati without proper public bidding.

In its re-investigation, the Office of the Special Prosecutor found out that the P107.49 million is not accurate and the implementation of the project has benefited the municipality as real property tax collection has increased.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor also found no conspiracy between Binay and his co-accused.

It also found out that there was proper public bidding and the bidders were legitimate when Binay purchased the groceries worth P9.9 million.